Replacing Monitors

alancool

Recently a friend of mine, approching 50, told me he felt his Monitor (in work) was effecting his vision. He has had the monitor for at least three years and it was not new when it was given to him. He estimates it to be at least 5 years old.

While working on spreadsheets for a duration in excess of an hour his eyes would tire and sometimes a slight "annoying" twitch would develop. He is approaching 50 and last year started to wear glasses for reading, working and occassionally watching TV. I'm not a doctor nor am I privy to my friends medical history but I would be concerned that such symptoms could be induced by an aging/faulty monitor.

I know someone in an IT dept somewhere is likely to read this and suggest my friend is cynically trying to have is monitor replaced with a new flat panel from Dell, if you are such a person please don’t reply! I can categorically confirm this is not the case as he is a man of great integrity and such an undertaking would be out of character.

I would like answers to these questions if possible:

Are there accepted guidelines for the replacement of monitors? If so where can I study them?

If you work in systems support, what determines the replacement cycle in your company? Monitor failure, a time period or some other measure?


Please Comment


alan:cool:

KdjaCL

Old school monitors have glare issues, get a glare protector.

The glare would hurt your eyes, after a period of time search the wiki for monitor glare for a better answer.




kdjac

JohnnieM

afik there is radiation (and heat ) from the old crt monitors.. perhaps the constant exposure to this plus glare isn't going to do him or anyone any good..

PogMoThoin

Lcd's are not as harsh on your eyes,

zilog_jones

Radiation from CRTs is negligible at any remote distance.

Check he is using it at a reasonable refresh rate (in Windows: Display Properties -> Settings -> Advanced -> Monitor) - 60Hz will kill your eyes, so put it to 75Hz or higher (85Hz+ prefered but may be too blurry). Also make sure he's using a suitable resolution for the type/size of monitor he has:

• 15" shadow mask: Generally 800x600; 1024x768 if it's a good one and can do it at something higher than 60Hz (most can't)
• 17" shadow mask: Generally 1024x768
• 19" shadow mask: Genrally 1280x1024

Aperture grille CRTs e.g. Sony Trinitrons (also sold by Dell, IBM and Sun) and NEC/Mitsubishi Diamontrons may be able to do higher resolutions at those sizes.

Thing is CRTs don't exactly age gracefully - the biggest problem is going out-of-focus. I'm using a 10 year old Dell (Nokia) 21" here, and even 1280x1024 is too blurry to use now. I don't even know why I'm using this piece of crap!

BTW, CRT monitors nearly always have the date of manufacture on the back somewhere.

trout

first thing that springs to mind is refresh rate - if this is too low for the resolution/application ... that might explain eye strain and twitches.

do you know the monitor brand/model ?
do you know the resolution / refresh rate being used by your pal ?

in the first instance, I would make sure your pal wasn't running the monitor beyond it's capabilities... a 15' CRT may be capable of displaying 1280x1024 ... but that may not be optimal.

if the monitor is not up to the task ... any reasonable employer would replace it ... the cost of a new monitor, even LCD, is a few hundred euro ... small change compared to someone's eyesight/comfort/ability to work

this link may provide some info on the Health & Safety aspects / obligations http://www.hsa.ie/publisher/index.jsp?aID=1498&nID=97&pID=93

this extract is from the FAQ on Display Screen Equipment on the HSA site. seems like this applies to your pal. good luck!

If I have a complaint arising from working with VDUs what can I do?
You should approach your employer initially and express your concern. Your employer is obliged to carry out a risk assessment as outlined in the regulations. Look at the risks associated with your workstation, which you think are is presenting a risk to your health and safety? Ask yourself the following:

* Is the display screen image clear?
* Are the screen characters easy to read?
* Is the keyboard comfortable?
* Does the furniture ‘fit’ the work and the user?
* Is the environment around the workstations risk free?
* Is the software user friendly?

If you answer ‘no’ to any of the above then it is likely that your workstation does not comply with the VDU Regulations. Remember it is not the employee’s responsibility to carry out the risk assessment of his or her own workstation.

turbot

Actually, there are a few things you might like to check into.

There is a good chance he suffers from "Electro-sensitivty", meaning his is more sensitive to the effects of a CRT than most, and if there is flourescent lighting, this might be making his problem worse overall.

I'd run searches on electro-sensitivity, lcd monitor studies, and flourescent lighting.

Also consider this, if LCD's were not more pleasant to use than CRT's, why are they mainstream? (It's not to do with space, it means you are not getting blasted with electrons).


Personally, this is my experience.

Back in 2000 I bought an 18inch LCD for 1000stg because my 19inch ( top of the range) CRT was driving me mad; I'd get a headache after using it for 30 mins, even with an anti-glare filter. I tried loads of things, from geting anti-emf pendants, to screening my place for geopathic stress, to expensive anti-glare filters, to wearing sun glasses while I worked. The LCD solved this issue in one easy swoop.

Since then I've talked a bunch of people into getting 20 inch LCD monitors, and they all think they are great. You can get them for < 500 euros each, which is well worth it in my opinon.

Since going LCD I haven't looked back.

Now my desktop consists of 1 x dell 2005 FPW widescreen flat panels in the middle, and two 17 inch LCD's either side, in an ultra wide desktop config running off the same pc, and it's great.

I'm thinking that by this time next year, I'll have 4 x Dell 20inch LCD widescreen flat panels. If you are really clever in the sales, you can get these from 420 euros including VAT. If I'm going to spend my day sitting in front of a computer, it's going to be an amazing computer!